Method of stacking nesting articles of diminishing size

ABSTRACT

A method of stacking a toy or educational device comprising a plurality of members capable of being nested together to form a compact stack or of being positioned on top of one another to form an extended stack. The members are of progressively diminishing sizes. Each consists of a central portion having a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected sections and a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected outer segments connected to the triangularly shaped sections of the central portion. The outer segments cooperate with the central portion upper surface to form pockets and with the central portion undersurface to form projections. Each pocket is adapted to receive a projection of an overlying adjacent member when the members are in compact stacked relation. In extended stacked relation the projections of the overlying member rest at the junctions of adjacent pockets of member beneath.

United States Patent 1 Skillman [54] METHOD OF STACKING NESTING ARTICLES OF DIMINISHING SIZE OTHER PUBLICATIONS Murray et al. Paper Folding For Beginners, by Wm. D. Murray and Francis J. Rigney, Dover Publications} Inc., New York, N.Y.; Copyright 1960.

[ 51 Jan.9, 1973 Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay Att0mey-Pendlet0n, Neuman, Williams & Anderson [57] ABSTRACT A method of stacking a toy or educational device comprising a plurality of members capable of being nested together to form a compact stack or of being positioned on top of one another to form an extended stack. The members are of progressively diminishing sizes. Each consists of a central portion having a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected sections and a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected outer segments connected to the triangularly shaped sections of the central portion. The outer segments cooperate with the central portion upper surface to form pockets and with the central portion undersurface to form projections. Each pocket is adapted to receive a projection of an overlying adjacent member when the members are in compact stacked relation. In extended stacked relation the projections of the overlying member rest at the junctions of adjacent pockets of member beneath.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures METHOD OF STACKING NESTING ARTICLES OF DIMINISHING SIZE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a stacking article, particularly, to an article which may be employed as a stacking toy or educational device. The art to which the invention relates includes toys, educational items, and stacking devices.

Various stacking toys have been employed in the past, including blocks of various sizes and shapes, donut-shaped rings adapted to be inserted over posts, and many other like items. These devices have had the advantage of being educational in that they teach young children familiarity with various shapes and the relationship of different shaped objects to each other. These devices also had the advantage of providing entertainment and amusement for young children. A disadvantage of many of these prior devices is that they could be arranged in only limited ways and thus did not keep a childs interest for very long.

Accordingly, it isan object of this invention to provide a stacking device which can be used as a toy or as an educational tool. It is a further object of this invention to provide a stacking toy which has the advantages mentioned above and certain additional advantages in that it provides a large variety of stacking arrangements, and thereby provides greater interest and amusement for the child. The stacking article of this invention, because of the unique shape of the members and the stacking relationship of them, can also be used as a display or promotional device. Further and additional objects will become apparent from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, an article is provided comprising a plurality of members adapted to cooperate with each other to form a stack. The members are of progressively diminishing sizes, the top member being the smallest and the bottom member being the largest. Each member consists of a central portion, including a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected sections and a plurality of outer segments connected to the triangularly shaped sections of the central portion. The outer segments comprise interconnected triangularly shaped sections, each of which is connected to an adjacent triangularly shaped section of the central portion. The outer segments cooperate with the top surface of the central portion to form pockets and with the undersurface of the central portion to form projections. Each pocket is adapted to receive a projection of an overlying adjacent member when the members are in stacked relation.

The members may also be stacked so that the projections rest in the V-shaped area located between the segments. In this way, the stack is extended and may stand either on the largest member or on the smallest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of this invention with the members arranged in nested relationship.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one member of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of one member of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the remainder of the embodiment being illustrated in dotted lines.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the member shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the member shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the embodiment of FIG. .1, showing the members stacked in an extended relationship.

FIG. 7 is an exploded partial view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, showing the relationship of the members when they nest with each other to form a compact stack.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, a stacked article 10 is provided. This article consists of a plurality of members 12 of diminishing size. The smallest member 12a is at the top of the article 10, the largest 12b, at the bottom. The stacked article 10 maybe constructed of plastic, paperboard, or other suitable material. It may be molded in a rigid form or may be flexible and folded into the desired shape.

FIG. 2 shows one member 12 of the stacked article 10, shown in'FIG. 1. The member consists of a central portion 14 comprising eight triangularly shaped interconnected sections 16. The member 12 also includes outer segments 18, which are each formed from two interconnected triangularly shaped sections 20. Each triangular section 20 of the outer segments 18 is connected to a triangularly shaped section 16 of the central portion 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer segments 18 cooperate with the top surface of the central portion 14 to form four pockets 22 in the member 12. The outer segments 18 cooperate with the undersurface of the central portion to form four projections 24. Each pocket 22 is adapted to receive a projection 24 of an overlying adjacent member 12 when the members are in stacked relation, as shown, for example, in FIGS. 1 and 7. The sections 20 of segments 18 intersect to form a line of intersection which is substantially vertical, and the segments are therefore substantially upright. This permits the members to fit together easily and snugly when the members of the stack are in nested relation.

FIG. 6 shows the members 12 of this invention stacked in an extended relation. In this arrangement, the projections 24 each are adapted to rest in the V- shaped area intermediate the outer segments 18. Because of the design of the stacking device, particularly the upright position of the segments 18, the members 12 interlock with each other when arranged in this jections, and (c) four peripheral V-shaped areas, each being intermediate two adjacent outer segments, said method comprising providing a plurality of said members of progressively diminishing size, placing one said member with its projections on a support surface in coplanar relation, placing said projections of the next in size of said members to rest in stable position in the V-shaped areas of said one member. 

1. A method of creating a stack from a plurality of symmetrical members of progressively diminishing size, each member including (a) a central portion having a plurality of triangularly shaped interconnected sections, (b) a plurality of substantially vertical outer segments connected to said triangularly-shaped sections of the Central portion, said outer segments cooperating with the upper surface of the central portion to form four uniformly spaced pockets and with the undersurface of the central portion to form four peripheral projections, and (c) four peripheral V-shaped areas, each being intermediate two adjacent outer segments, said method comprising providing a plurality of said members of progressively diminishing size, placing one said member with its projections on a support surface in coplanar relation, placing said projections of the next in size of said members to rest in stable position in the V-shaped areas of said one member. 